Samsung Galaxy 3G is UK's most popular phone

Samsung’s flagship handset, the Galaxy S3, continues to rank as the UK’s most popular handset based on live searches and sales. According to the latest uSwitch.com Mobile Tracker Apple has been fighting a rearguard action against the older Galaxy S2.

Throughout August Apple’s iPhone 4S and the S” were neck and neck, with the 4S pipping the S2 to the post on the last day of the month. Samsung's Galaxy family has half of the top ten spots and the company is laughing all the way to the bank. Analysts are expecting some interesting competition soon when the Sony XPERIA T comes out. The phone promises ‘the best high definition experience on a smartphone to date” and will be 007’s mobile of choice in the next James Bond film, Skyfall.

The only new entry for August was the BlackBerry Curve 9320, showing there is still a strong appetite for cheap and cheerful handsets. Compared to the higher spec iPhone 4S and Galaxy S3, which are priced from £26 per month on a contract, the Curve 9320 is now available from only £10.50 per month and features a robust QWERTY keyboard, preinstalled Facebook and Twitter apps, and the popular instant messaging app, BlackBerry Messenger, one of the best aspects of BlackBerry handsets alongside their email security.

Samsung's Galaxy Ace 2 is another handset that has captured the imagination of summer bargain hunters. You can pick one of those up on a contract for £15.50 per month. Mobile fans have realised the perks of this cool and compact option for smartphone fans, with its five-megapixel camera with autofocus, front-facing VGA camera for video calls, Google Maps and vast choice of apps available from the Google Play download market.

The biggest losers in the UK market are the HTC One S which is now dangerously close to the relegation zone as the tenth most popular smartphone after dropping three places. The One X from the HTC family has also dropped one position, as has the Samsung Galaxy Note.